Firo made his way to Matt. His Dimension Armor held up for only an instant before it was torn apart, leaving Firo exposed. Matt and Firo looked each other in the eye. They both looked sad. No words were said. That one moment seemed to last for an eternity. Finally, Firo mouthed something inaudible to Matt. Matt reached out his hand to grab Firo's but...

Matt woke up in what looked like a hospital bed. The room was dimly lit and there were no windows. He looked down and there was a new system of power seals on his chest.

???: It's about time you woke up.

Standing in the doorway was Captain Palmer from the asteroid buster crew. He slowly walked into the room.

Matt: So it was you...

Palmer: Yes. That was quite a fight you had. It reduced one of our most valuable mining planets to nothing. The survivors had quite a bit of explaining to do.

Matt: ...

Palmer: I see that the outcome is weighing heavily on you. I told you not to go looking for that person.

Matt: What else was I supposed to do? I found the one thing that I was looking for all this time. But...

Palmer: Guilt is a great burden. I know that all too well. But cases like this can't be solved so easily through words.

Matt: If only I was better prepared. I could have done more. But instead, I killed him.

The captain turned away from Matt.

Palmer: Maybe... that was the best thing you could have done for him.

When he heard this, Matt perked up. He jumped out of the bed and grabbed Troy by his collar, slamming him against the wall.

Matt walked out of the room leaving Palmer standing there, straightening his collar. At that moment a soldier ran into the room.

Soldier: Captain, what happened? Are you alright?

Palmer: Open all of the security doors to the facility.

Soldier: Sir, but why?

From down the hall a grunt and a crunching of metal could be heard.

Palmer: That's why.

In a meeting room in another part of the facility, the rest of the crew sat around a conference table waiting for the final member to show up.

Harding: I wonder where the captain is.

Anderson: Yeah, it's odd for him to keep others waiting. Something must have come up.

Heiwajima: It probably has something to do with that guy. I'm pretty sure that the captain brought him to this place himself after recovering him.

Lekhram: zzzzzzzzz....

Anderson: Lekhram, wake up! The captain could arrive at any moment.

Lekhram: Huh? Whatever. Not like he can discharge me or anything being the combat specialist he needs.

Heiwajima: Hmph...

Lekhram: Yo, got a problem?

Heiwajima: No. It's just that you seem to think very highly of yourself even though all you do is fire guns.

Lekhram: Hehe, and just what are you saying?

Heiwajima: I'm saying that you probably can't fight without hiding behind a weapon of some sort. Either that or your too afraid to.

Lekhram got up and slammed one foot on the table. He had a large smile on his face.

Lekhram: Oh, yeah? You wanna test that theory?

Harding: Seriously, stop you two!

Heiwajima stood up as well.

Heiwajima: I'd love to.

Palmer: Can you save this for later?

The two sat down again.

Palmer: We have received reports that someone within the federation has infringed their clearance rights and breached multiple levels of automated activity controls across the world. However, they haven't done anything with it at this time. As this is a matter of global security, we have been tasked with finding the perpetrator and stopping them, whoever they may be.

Heiwajima: I'll put the subordinates from my division on the case immediately. They should be able to find something.

Anderson: We just got back from the last crisis mission. Can they really give us something this big so soon?

Palmer: As the 5 top soldiers in the world, we must be prepared to handle these situations at any time. Anything less is unacceptable.

Lekhram: Ugh, fine. So find the bastards, and then go kick their asses. Let's do it.

On a dark street in town a man runs from a group of thugs. However, they gain on him and corner him. They begin beating him until he's laying on the ground. Matt is walking by the scene, paying no attention to the crime.

Thug: Let's grab all his crap and go!

The gang rummages through the man's pockets, takes his crap, and runs off into the night.

The next day at sunset, Matt is alone on the rooftop of his building.

Matt: I thought I told you to leave me alone.

Palmer: I would have, but I found some things that I really felt you should know.

Matt: Nothing you have to say change anything.

Palmer: Maybe not the past, but it will definitely make you want to think about what you will do in the near future.

The captain went over the discussion he held the previous day.

Palmer: We've now found the ones responsible. Or I should say the one responsible. The mastermind is a single man by the name of Harold Credo.

Hearing that name slightly interested Matt.

Palmer: Being at the head of the Federation does give him certain abilities, but no position in the world can grant a single person authority of the worlds automated military machinery. It looks like he's trying to raise a massive army and start a lone world takeover.

Matt: So stop the guy. That's your job, right?

Palmer: You remember that he and Firo formed a small partnership back at that time. I doubt it ever ended. We found the coordinates of your encounter with Firo in his personal database. He planned the whole thing. He wanted you two to fight.

Matt: What?

Palmer: He was probably hoping that you two would kill each other or make the other a non factor.

Matt: So all this time, he was just using Firo for this messed up plan.

Palmer: But it seems he miscalculated. You're still alive and well. But either way, now he's made his move believing you to be out of the way.

Matt: ...

Palmer: Or maybe he didn't miscalculate. You're suit is gone and your will seems to be broken. So in that reguard, it was a complete success.

Matt: Like I said, this is your fight. Handle it yourself.

Palmer: I have no idea what scale that man's plans are on. But I will indeed do everything in my power to see that this ends.

Troy walked over to Matt and handed him a security clearance card and a note.

Palmer: So if you ever become interested in doing the same, go to this place. If you really cared about Firo, this battle is the one way to prove it.

He then walked away. Back at the base, the crew was gearing up for their mission. Lekhram was holstering multiple guns and a couple of small blades. Heiwajima was walking by. They made eye contact for a moment and then carried on. Harding came through the bay doors driving a large combat vehicle. She parked it and got out. Anderson was using multiple computers at once and looking at various streams of data. The captain walked in.

Palmer: Alright everyone, fall in!

The crew lined up.

Palmer: I have already briefed you all on our objective. We will be storming the building in which the director of the Federation resides and arrest him for his numerous crimes against the public. Are there any questions.

Lekhram: Yeah, you know that this is a trap right? It was waaay too easy for us to figure this guy out.

Palmer: I'm well aware. However, with his actions we can't afford to avoid this. We'll take him head on. Now are there any other questions?

All: ...

Palmer: Good! Then load up!

They all finished their preparations and gathered together. The bay doors to the base opened and they watched as countless automated drones swarmed the city.

Yep, he's gone but not forgotten. And this next battle will be pretty awesome. I wanted to flesh out these other characters more and show how they are in their element. Maybe I'll even do 1 short chapter much later on to show where they all came from.